Purchasing iPad Books: iBooks, Kindle, Kobo

Last week I reviewed alternative approaches for managing iPad book collections.  This week I evaluated the book shopping experience on iBooks, Kindle, and Kobo.  Some observations:

• Aside from instant gratification via download, the eReader book shopping experience doesn’t significantly improve upon the web book shopping experience.  In fact, the web is arguably better since more book information and search options are available.
• All of the eReaders provide a “one size fits all” shopping experience.  There are no personalization features though I’m sure this will change over time.
• Kindle and Kobo take the user out of context during the purchase process which could lead to drop-offs.  For obvious reasons–App Store Integration–iBooks is the only eReader that keeps the user within context.

Read below for more details on the following areas: Finding Books, Learning about Books, Buying Books, Accessing Account Info, and Getting Help.

Finding Books

All of the eReaders reviewed let users search and browse for books.  Kindle provides the richest set of options but users must access them via Safari. Going back and forth between the app and Safari is seamless as long as the user stays on track.  If Kindle users wander into the sea of Amazon links, they may have to quit Safari to find their way back.

Kindle Store (full-size image)

iBooks and Kobo let users search and browse for books within their apps.  Search is prominently displayed, however, the browse features are somewhat difficult to find.  iBooks browse options are included in the tab bar along the bottom which blends into the device.  Kobo’s browse options are accessed via the “Jump to” button in the upper left.  This is a shame since the categories and lists are a great resource.

iBooks Store (full-size image)

Kobo Store (full-size image)

Learning About Books

Since Kindle is part of Amazon, the amount of book information (and number of books!) is leaps and bounds ahead of its competitors.  They have extensive reviews, richer author pages, and much more.  However, as previously mentioned, the user must leave the app to access this trove of information.

Compared to Kindle, iBooks book information is limited, containing ratings, reviews, publish date, publisher, seller, category, length, language.  Kobo provides even less information: synopsis, genre, publisher and ratings.

One nice feature available in all three apps is the ability to download sample chapters.  It’s a great way to encourage purchases–worked for me!

Buying Books

Kobo and Amazon users must provide their credit card information–or sign into existing accounts–the first time they purchase books via their respective eReaders.  The process is very straightforward and only occurs once since the information is stored for future purchases. iBooks has a clear advantage since the user’s credit card information is already associated with their iTunes account.

Purchasing books on the iBooks and Kindle apps require five steps minimum from start to finish.  Kobo takes six steps since they show an overlay warning users that they are leaving the app to go to Safari.  (See slides below for the flows).  Hopefully all iPad eReaders–not just Apple’s–will be able to seamlessly integrate payments in the future, without having to cede 30% of revenue.  Better integration will make some of the extra steps obsolete, e.g., warning when launching Safari.

Accessing Account Info

All three apps have different approaches when it comes to accessing account information; iBook’s account information is most integrated.

• iBooks let users access relevant account information from the Store screens; the user stays within the app the entire time.
• Kindle users can access their account information only when they are on the Amazon site.
• Kobo doesn’t appear to provide access to any account information from within their app.

Getting Help

All three apps also approach support differently.  iBooks links off to their support web site in Safari, Kindle provides basic support content within the app (an overlay with web content), and Kobo has nothing!  None of these approaches are ideal.

A few recommendations…

Personalize the shopping user experience. The eReaders reviewed can provide a much more personalized shopping experience, tapping into past purchases but also into what I’ve read, what I’m currently reading, my location, and so on. (Of course privacy issues need to be addressed, as this data must be anonymous).

Consider what other types of book information can be captured and shared via the iPad. For example, it could be interesting to know how many people are currently reading book X or how many actually finished reading book X.  (Again, privacy issues must be addressed.)

Develop alternative ways to present book information. The lists offered on the eReader bookstores are great but perhaps there are other, more visual, ways to present books.  One of my favorite ways to explore books in a real bookstore is to scan the tables laid out with the newest books.  Is there a way to incorporate that concept on the iPad?  Information for individual books could also be improved.  For example, the previews are wonderful but it would be helpful if users could see a few pages before adding books to their library.

Lastly, keep the user within context as much as possible. It’s jarring to move from the app to Safari, Mail, or other applications.

Want to read more?  See my other review about managing personal book collections on the iPad.

Managing iPad Libraries: iBooks, Kindle, Kobo

A few people asked me to review some of the popular eReader iPad apps. As I started to dig into them, it became clear that the topic was too broad to adequately cover in one review. Instead, I’ve decided to break the UX review down into three parts. This first part will cover personal libraries (books downloaded to the iPad), the second will cover the bookstore, and the third will cover the reading experience. iBooks, Kindle, and Kobo were chosen since they are widely used and have some interesting design differences.

Viewing & Previewing Books

All three app libraries provide Cover and List views.  The main difference in the Cover views is that iBooks and Kubo are on “shelves” whereas Kindle books are in a plain grid that supports the pinch gesture to expand or shrink covers.  Visual details also differ when comparing the Cover views.  iBooks covers have an indentation that looks like a book spine.  Kindle books appear three dimensional against a background that changes according to the time of day.  Kobo has put forth the greatest effort in terms of visual details, letting users customize both the bookshelf and bookmark appearance.

iBook Cover View (full-size image)

Kindle Cover View (full-size image)

Kobo Cover View (full-size image)

List views, on the other hand, differ mostly in the amount of metadata provided for each book.  iBooks provides title and author information plus the genre; Kindle provides the title and author.  Kobo provides a tight two-column layout and has the most information: title, author, whether the book is currently being read, and how much of the book has been read.

iBooks List View (full-size image)

Kindle List View (full-size image)

Kobo List View (full-size image)

Getting additional book information—TOC, summary, ratings—is only possible in the Kobo UI.  Users can tap and hold the cover when in the Cover or List views.

Kobo Preview (full-size image)

Organizing & Filtering Books

All of the apps include some level of filtering but their approaches are very different.  iBooks is the only app that provides searching, which will become critical as users build larger book collections over time.  In addition to Search, iBooks lets users sort by “Bookshelf” (most recently purchased), Title, Author, or Category (genre).  Unfortunately, these search and sort features are only available on the List view.  It would be preferable to enable sorting on both views, as done by Kindle, which provides sort by Recent, Title, Author.  Kobo sort values are essentially the same, except “Recent” indicates recently read.

Removing Books

Kindle users may tap and hold to remove books from the Cover or List views.  On Kubo, tap and hold brings up Delete as well as the TOC and book overview. On iBooks, users must tap Edit to choose which books to delete.  This interaction difference could be problematic for users moving between apps.

A few recommendations…

Capture more metadata to improve the user experience. Goodreads.com lets users mark books—read, currently-reading, to-read—and uses this information to create bookshelves.  Kubo does this to some extent with the “I’m Reading” view, but it can be taken a step further.  Other possible metadata to capture are notes and personal ratings.

Leverage known metadata to help users filter through their collections. For example, Delicious Library doesn’t treat all books the same.  They alter the cover size based on the paper book’s actual dimensions.  Students at UC Berkeley’s iSchool also explored this concept in the Virtual Shelf project.  Visual cues such as these may help users pinpoint and choose books to read.  Similarly, the book stores for these apps do not have to be islands.  Reviews and other content may be of interest to users even after purchase.

Allow freeform organization of book collections. In addition to providing more automated views, consider letting users create their own bookshelves, as done on Delicious Library.  Users may want to organize books based on their interests (e.g., work or pleasure), family members (e.g., for themselves or their children) and more.

Design for growth. As users’ collections grow, search, tagging, and other filtering mechanisms will become increasingly important.  At the same time, user interface options, e.g., the ability to resize book covers as done on Kindle, will make it easier for users to manage large collections.  These should be introduced now, rather than waiting until collections become unwieldy.

Want to read more?  Just posted a review about purchasing books on the iPad.

Hacks/Hackers Unite Highlights

Last night Hacks/Hackers Unite had their demos at KQED in San Francisco.  The goal of the weekend gathering was for journalists, designers, and developers to build media apps for the iPad and other tablet devices. One of my favorites, Citizen Kid News, was awarded the top prize.  Citizen Kid News provides kid-friendly news articles, culled from the web, and encourages interaction through game mechanics.  Readers start out at “Cub Reporters” but can make their way up to “Editor” if they rack up enough points.  The neatest thing is that kids can eventually contribute their own articles to Citizen Kid News.  Other projects that I found interesting include:

3-in-1 Story: Lets users fluidly move between the text, audio, and video versions of a story.

News Apper: Provides template-based solution that enables non-technical writers to create iPad apps containing text, video, photo, maps, and more.

Open Margin: Attempts to make reading books more social through integration with social media but also through its interaction design.

The complete list of projects can be found here: http://unite.hackshackers.com/2010/05/order-of-presentations/

iPad Paper Prototyping

Paper prototyping for the iPad is super easy, especially when compared to other platforms.  For web-based prototypes, you often have to incorporate a mouse and keyboard.  And for the iPhone it can be tricky to approximate the form factor yet still keep everything legible.  The iPad has the best of both worlds: ample screen space and no fussing with peripherals–unless there’s an external keyboard.  Here are some examples of iPad paper prototypes; I’ll update the list as I find new ones.

OmniGraphSketcher: http://bit.ly/9aLU9a (see image below)

NPR: http://www.snd.org/2010/04/inside-the-design-process-for-nprs-ipad-app/

Instapaper: http://www.marco.org/357350758

Found some other great examples? Send them my way!

OmniGraphSketcher for the iPad.

iPad UX Review: Adobe Ideas vs. SketchBook Pro

iPad UI Templates

If you’re looking for a quick way to sketch some iPad concepts, you may want to download one of the iPad UI templates listed below.  As I mentioned in a previous post about iPhone apps, I generally start with paper before moving onto one of these options–you’ll have to decide what works best for your situation.  Notable user interface elements in these templates include the device background (landscape & portrait), split views, keyboards, edit menus, and popovers.  More details on these UI elements are available in the iPad Human Interface Guidelines.

Balsamiq: http://mockupstogo.net/tag/ipad

Omnigraffle: http://www.graffletopia.com/search/ipad

Photoshop: http://www.teehanlax.com/blog/2010/02/01/ipad-gui-psd/

Illustrator: http://iconlibrary.iconshock.com/icons/ipad-vector-gui-elements-tabs-buttons-menus-icons/

I’m sure there are plenty of other templates but these should help you get started.  Have fun!